Quash the Defiance or Support the Independence? That is the Question.

One of my many goals for Aaron right now is to get him down to one nap per day. One reason is pure selfishness - it's really hard to get out of the house and do anything if you have to plan around two naps. The afternoon nap invariably gets skipped because we are out running errands after lunch and get back too late, so now he's gone from about 11:30 a.m., when he woke up from his first nap, until bedtime without any sleep.

A second reason is that I think he sleeps better if I keep him busy in the morning and make him wait until after lunch to nap. I also think he sleeps better at night and, most importantly, later into the morning, thus ending the need for a morning nap.

That sounds all fine and dandy, right? The only problem is if he refuses to take the nap in the afternoon, like today. I laid him down around 2:00 and at 3:15, he was still awake, talking and rolling around. I refused to let him get up, though. I didn't not want to see Toddler Monster at 5:00 p.m. rear it's ugly head because it had not had a nap all day. The moral of the story is this:

This is what I found after I went in and checked on him around 3:3o after not hearing from him for a while. I just don't get it! He was obviously tired. Hello?! He fell asleep sitting up! Why does he fight it? It kills me.